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I had never even thought of adding eggshell to the stock! Good way to add more minerals, I would think.

Yup, it adds a lot of calcium. When you take the shells out at the end they feel rubbery because all the minerals have leached out into the stock. I usually add about 4-5 egg shells, or however many I have room for in the pot, allowing them to submerge.

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Thanks for the eggshell tip Gravyboat. I think I'll start saving my eggshells too. I never think to do that.

I really like making broth out of chicken feet for the same reason. I snip them up before boiling them down for the broth. Broth is so much more rich and creamy when you make it out of chicken feet.

Just to see what would happen, about 5 days ago I rooted a celery stub in a dish of water - the little round bit that is left over after you cut the stalks off. Well, I didn't think it would work but the damn thing proved me wrong and started growing, so tonight I decided I would reward it with its own little pot full of dirt and set it by the window. In return, I expect to have a pretty, leafy bunch of fresh, organic, home-grown celery in a couple months. Yes, I think celery plants are pretty. I'm strange. People seem to have had good luck growing celery in indoor containers, so I thought I would try. I live in an apartment and have zero access to gardening areas.

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Hey Spubba, I was just thinking about a movie I saw a while back and I think you might like it. It's a french historical drama called 'Seraphine'. It's about a middle-aged working-class woman who paints. She doesn't bother femming herself up, doesn't have children, and doesn't date. She just does her grueling work as necessary and then goes home and paints, because art is the one thing that truly makes her happy.

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I dunno about all of these other characters around here, but I miss you and I miss your updates. I hope work is going well as well as all of your other ventures. I hope you are only stressed as much as you need/want to be and are able to alleviate the extra with bacon? sardines? your art? I think those are pretty good choices Seriously though...miss you. I'll quit being weird now

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Thank you all so much for your good thoughts. I'm still hangin' in there and still Primal. I'm not hanging out here in the forums as much as I should... ok, I'll admit it, the fat-hate got to be a bit much for me, and I'm not in the right frame of mind to deal with it right now.

The environment at work has been really toxic... I've had more than my share of stress, which is playing havoc with my weight. When I get stressed, I don't eat, and then when the stress lets up, I eat too much, which leads to weight fluctuations and blood pressure problems - I'll feel dizzy and faint, for example. I've found that fasting does wonders for the stress; it's just coming off the fast that I have problems with! I've been in to my doctor to collect some numbers and we've confirmed that stress REALLY plays heck with my blood pressure, and has much more impact than food or salt intake or being overweight. I talked to my mom a lot about it lately, and we agree that the job is dangerous for my health. I haven't come to any hard and fast decisions yet but my plan is to be out of this particular job by sometime next year.

Overall though, if you took work (and associated weight fluctuations) off the table, I wouldn't have much to complain about. Working on my comics keeps my skills sharp, which I'll need if I ever manage to land some Really Big Thing. I made an effort to get off the internet and read more, which I also think is promoting more healthy brain patterns. If I may hazard a guess, reading is more Primal than fighting on internet forums. It definitely helps my concentration and frame of mind.

Now if I could just keep my calorie intake even, I'd be pretty darn pleased. :P

Good luck with everything, Spubs! I understand why you're not coming around as much, but we all miss you and think about you. Our good thoughts are with you! Keep on doing what you do, and everything will get better. I know it!

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I hope you've been absent from the interwebz for the reasons you mentioned above (reading more, art, etc.). I hope you are less stressed whenever and wherever this finds you and that the holidays are treating you kindly. You're only 1 of 4 journals I keep up with so I tend to notice when you aren't around. I always hope to see some small update though